reclaiming manhood

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4: 1-16).

Again, the Word of God read is often more powerful than I ever dreamed. The first verse calls us to walk in a way that reflects the calling of our lives. This is significant, because it requires us to know what we are called to do, and then to allow that calling to permeate every part of our lives. I am called to be a pastor, a teacher, a writer, a missionary. I must live in a way that my life reflects this, from what I read to what I spend my money on.

Then, He gives me the outlines of my calling: to disciple the church in a way that promotes unity, maturity, and an intimate knowledge of God (note: these are interconnected; therefore, we cannot say 'Don't teach that because it will cause disunity' if the subject in question is scriptural). Likewise, we see a picture of how to grow a healthy church - by individual people growing in unity, maturity, and in intimacy with Christ! It all comes down not simply to our practices and methodology, but to the theology that drives that!

I want to use part of this passage as I teach my Sunday School class about manhood this spring. Manhood must be defined ONLY as striving toward our identities in Christ, not simply as machoism and football.

sometimes you're reminded

Sometimes, you're reminded of how the Christian heroes of old survived in an age without "Christian" bookstores. This is one of those times.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

Sometime's it is hard for me to read Paul (as in here in Ephesians 3), because it's easy to see him as arrogant and egotistical - unless you remember that he is writing to the Ephesians as their spiritual leader, in full belief that what he believes has been revealed to him by God. With that in mind, look at the second paragraph. This is our calling, and resounds with me because I am studying to be in ministry professionally. God allowed me, who had no right to be such a leader (regardless of my gifts, deeds, or abilities) to serve Him in this capacity, and He empowers me to do it.

It is also very important to note that He spreads His glory through the church. Despite what I feel from time to time about the church and its problems, God states here that the expression of His glroy to the world will primarily be the church. To me, this means:

• "nature" is not enough of a witness to fully reveal Christ to most people. I cannot be apathetic in my view of evangelism.
• If a church has fallen away, my upmost efforts should be to restore that fellowship to a correct view of Christ, rather than immediately going off and starting my own thing.
• Parachurch ministries are not enough - they should exist only to assist the local church.
• Efforts should not simply go into leading people to Christ, but to reproducing the church in a local context.

Then, Paul continues the thought he began at the beginning of the passage:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Krissi commented this morning that perhaps we misuse the concept faith. I think we mix it up with effort (if I would only try harder to do X, if I only trusted God more = if I had more faith...). One of the major themes of the entire book of Ephesians is God's grace towards us - we do not have the ability ourselves to come to Him OR to continue with Him. Look at the prayer: He glorifies the One whose power is at work within us, asks that the power may be strengthened, to the point that we have the power to comprehend God's love for us! This love is beyond mere knowledge, so we cannot study theology or the Bible or spiritual disciplines to understand it...it comes from Him.

I want to begin to pray "Lord, give me the ability to understand you better, the faith to dive deeper into your love."

breaking down walls

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Oh the mystery of our God, who in some way (and this sounds almost blasphemous to say) sets us with Christ in the heavens. Ephesians 2:4-10 shows us that we have been (notice the past tense) seated with Christ. What have I done to be honored in heaven? But the past tense is important, for it is not for something we will do, but for what we have already done - nothing, except being saved through God's grace. I am honored for being a vessel for the grace of God to be manifest.

One question: are we God's workmanship (in this context) because of our salvation or because of our creation? The latter seems to imply that God has prepared good works for all people to do.

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11-22 begins to move into something I've been thinking alot about lately: cultural studies. We often create "divides" by which we seperate people into the good and the bad. Even more often, we do this at church. We add more commandments and regulations to replace those which we lose because of Christ. Where is our peace? I want to find how we can make culture not about dividing, but sharing, delving into the 'foundation' which we are a part of.

Last note: is the final you plural or singular?

good people and bad people

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

So, this morning krissi was slightly fried due to the start of her finals, so we didn't get far. But in Ephesians 2:1-3, we see a diachotomy built between those following Satan/self/world, and those who are no longer acting in this way. I struggle with this diachotomy because you think of so many people who are very good people, who are compassionate and helpful and, well...good. But when you look at the human race as a whole, you see this concept easily, how we cannot help but pursue selfish ends (which themselves end with everything eventually falling apart), and how people who do not know God can nonetheless emulate qualities of Christ.

'children of wrath' = those born under the wrath of God? those born with the wrath of God and the curse of sin upon them?

thanks, wisdom, hope, and authority

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love
toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you inmy prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Here in Ephesians 1:15-23, Krissi and I realized we don't nearly thank God for
the Christian friends He has given us. They have helped us through so much in
our lives, from counseling, to stretching us and exposing us to new things
(literally our paths in life!). What if we were to cultivate a life of
thankfulness for the people God gives us? What would that look like?

Krissi
saw the following progression:

1. "may give you a spirit of wisdom..." God grants us the grace by which we progressively know Him better
2. "the hope to which He has called you" This knowledge allows us to persevere (and continue to know Him even more) through our sufferings, because we have hope in Christ

We wonder about the final sentence. Possibilities:

• Christ has all authority over creation (all things)
• Christ has given this authority to the church
• Christ has authority in all things pertaining to the church

Amplified Bible and Message paraphrases of v22-23:

And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church], Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].

He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Apparantly these translations seem to side with the church being headed over by Christ. Yet it also seems to position the church in a unique role of authority within the world, if Christ, the author of creation and ruler over all, resides in us.

and evening and morning were the first day

This morning, my fiance and I studied this passage, found in Ephesians 1:1-14.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might
be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

It was wonderful. We had breakfast, prayed together, and then studied God's Word. How long has it been since the center of our relationship was the Word and prayer! I've prayed and hungered for this idea for so long, only to not realize how to grasp it. I thank God for the accountability in the Word Krissi is providing. My prayers:

• That this would be a thing of unrelenting importance for both of us, uninterrupted by homework or sleep.
• That we would make prayer even more of a priority, so mcuh so that our time becomes one of intercession for our friends, marriage, and the lost.
• That we would grow closer to Christ and each other through a committment to the Word of God.

As far as the passage, here were our conversations and questions:

1. Grace and peace is central to all of Paul's greetings. It seems that an acceptance of the mercy and gift of God in Jesus, and the obedience to the Holy Spirit guiding our lives, is Paul's wish for all, and that in those interactions, peace would result.
2. What are the spiritual blessings we have been blessed with through Christ? Heaven? The Holy Spirit? A relationship with God and others?
3. Ah, predestination. Who knows? The passage does seem to push, however, God's will and purpose for His glory. Grace also serves as the means to accomplish this. We talked about John Piper's "best case scenerio" idea, whereby God's actualized will is the reality that will gain Him the most glory and therefore us the most happiness.
4. The big question we had was the speakers of the passage. Paul wrote it to the Ephesians, but he often uses 'we' in the above passage, and then at the end says 'you also'. Does this mean that the former ideas do not apply to the Ephesians? Did God only predestine the apostles and Paul?

Ideas for pondering...